Potato Diggers

Josef Herman 1911 - 1990

Summary

Semi-abstact, expressionistic impasto painting of two potatoes diggers labouring. They lean heavily towards the ground to carry out their task. The woman to the right wears a head scarf and has a padded bag on her back, probably a sack for storing the potatoes. The colours used are in rich, earthy tones such as red, maroon and brown, with pale yellow coloured soil. The luxurious colours seem illuminated especially in the hand and feet region, where the peach flesh tones seem to glow orange in the late sunlight. A palatte knife has been used across the painting as many diagonal lines can be seen. The background is comprised of a block of maroon under a mustard coloured rectangle.